


Remember yourself

by Skydancer8



Series: NCT One-shots [14]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Amnesia, Blood, Brotherly Love, Enhanced Strength, Experimentation, Experiments, Facility, Genetically Engineered Beings, Hurt, Hyungs love the Dreamies, Love, Might be a bit slow at first, One Shot, Platonic Relationships, Sad, Tags Are Hard, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Will probably get better later on, break out - Freeform, powers, scientists - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 07:19:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skydancer8/pseuds/Skydancer8
Summary: "So...they're on pills or something?" Doyoung spoke up as Kun stopped in front of one door. "Or are they going through exercises?"Kun glanced at them for a moment, and Taeyong could see a look of regret pass over his face for a second before the false cheery facade was back. "No. They have been genetically engineered, meaning we alter their genes when needed. Does that disturb any of you?"The group exchanged glances."No" Jaehyun offered.orTaeyong and his friends end up being a part of an organisation that conducts experiments on children in order to create a better generation.  Taeyong find himself in a test of intelligence as the child subjects leave off hints for him to break, hints that could lead to the future of the organisation and his own forgotten past.





	Remember yourself

**Author's Note:**

> The pictures used are taken from the internet and are not taken by me, simply borrowed to give you a better vision of the story.

"What have gotten ourselves into?" Taeyong murmured as the black van he was riding with his friends came to a stop outside what seemed to be a facility in the middle of the woods. "What were we thinking?"

Doyoung let out a snort, throwing aside an old magazine he was reading. "Come on, Taeyong. The organisation stated clearly in the emails that it's a private research center. Of course it would look like this."

Prior to their finished education, all five of them had been sent emails regarding open jobs at a research facility focused on the evolution of human beings. Completely intrigued at the privacy of the research, they had accepted the offers and were sent on their way. Taeyong's group of friends included his childhood friend, Doyoung, his ex-roommate, Jaehyun, a young prodigy, Sicheng, and resident foreigner, Johnny. 

Did he regret accepting the offer? Currently, yes.

"You guys can get off now. Enjoy your work and...try to keep an open mind" the driver smiled, looking at them from the front mirror. "Just know that our project is for the best"

"I'm sure it is" Johnny replied nervously before ceremoniously hitting his head at the top of the door opening, receiving stifled laughs from his friends. 

"Good way to start" Taeyong smirked, jumping out of the van and inhaling the pine scented air. The facility in front of them looked alike to an old hospital with rough graying paint and moss on the walls. The windows were darkened and Taeyong could make out closed curtains behind them. The place emitted an aura of mystery that sent chills down his spine.

Doyoung led the way inside, pushing open the creaking doors. The first thing they identified were the people dressed in dark clothes.

"Are they security guards?" Sicheng questioned. "There's so many of them"

"And they all have weapons too" Jaehyun added, glancing warily as he passed them and went to the front desk. "We're the new employees"

The guy sitting behind the desk looked up, face instantly turning bright. "I thought you'd never arrive!"

He stood up, taking out his hand to shake Jaehyun's before scanning the faces of all of them. He didn't look that korean, but his pronunciation was good enough for him to get by. Taeyong figured that he was probably their age. "I'm Kun, by the way. I've been working here for some time."

He looked down at their duffel bags before signaling some of the guards to take them up to their respective rooms. Kun clapped his hands together, a smile still bright on his face. "You must be curious about our project, especially since we insisted on privacy."

He started to walk to the elevator. With a quick share of glances, they followed cautiously. Kun pressed the third floor and waited for the doors to close before continuing.

"Anyway, this project is regarding the evolution of the human brain. As you know, we don't use our brains 100%, thus limiting our abilities. Here at the SM Headquarters, we focus on trying to change that, to create a generation with far better capabilities than the current."

Johnny cleared his throat. "So...we work with...like...real live brains?"

The elevator dinged and the doors opened revealing what seemed to be a long hallway with a concrete floor and rough walls. It looked oddly like a prison for deranged people in straight jackets, making Taeyong regret his decision entirely.

"Actually, that's kind of correct" Kun said, leading them down the hallway. "We have a few...test subjects that require our full attention. Overall, there are around 20 of them here, and all of then are classified according to how near they are to using their brains to full capacity. You are currently at Zone 3, where you will all be watching over the development of 7 of these subjects."

"So...they're on pills or something?" Doyoung spoke up as Kun stopped in front of one door. "Or are they going through exercises?"

Kun glanced at them for a moment, and Taeyong could see a look of regret pass over his face for a second before the false cheery facade was back. "No. They have been genetically engineered, meaning we alter their genes when needed. Does that disturb any of you?"

The group exchanged glances.

"No" Jaehyun offered.

Kun nodded and gestured to the doors to their far right. "Those are the doors that leads to each test subjects room. However, we'll be entering a route that gives us access to two side mirrors so we can observe them without entering their respective rooms."

"Uh...Kun" Sicheng suddenly spoke, making Kun halt in his action and turn towards him. "You said that the subjects are classified. What is Zone 3, exactly?"

Kun smiled and pushed open the door once more, ushering them to come in. There was a long passageway that curved and led to the back of the rooms they were going to look into. "You guys are lucky enough to handle what we call, the Upper Zone. Meaning they have the highest development, although not perfect just yet. However, they are of a younger age group than us. In fact, they are still in their teens so listen carefully"

The first room had a boy who wore baggy white clothes. He sat on his bed, legs dangling at the side, eating from a rectangular metal container. However, the container seemed to change shape in his hands, from rectangular to a bowl to a plate. The boy merely looked bored, picking at the rice with his long fingers.

Kun tapped his clipboard and Taeyong glanced over his shoulder to look at the biography on the paper, including what seemed to be a rather sad picture of the boy in front of them.

"This is Park Jisung. He's the youngest, around 15 years old" Kun read out and pointed at the shifting metal container. "He's going through puberty currently, so he has less control over his abilities. However, he shows higher resistance to changes around him. Not that aggressive, but he's extremely quiet."

"15 years old" Taeyong whispered under his breath. He felt a surge of empathy through his veins at the thought of this boy, this child being experimented on throughout his childhood. Teh boy looked extremely sad, for one, and Taeyong would do anything to make a smile appear on his face.

Kun kept on walking, moving to the second room. The second boy was at the side of his room, a paintbrush in his hand. He wore a similar expression to the boy before, but his eyes did not hold a defeated look. Instead, they held such intensity and focus that Taeyong could feel an intimidating aura.

"Huang Renjun, a Chinese subject, 17" Kun continued, flipping through the papers before finding Renjun's. 

"Highly capable in picking up artistic skills and has extremely accurate photographic memory. Of course, he can do many other things but he shows an great liking to art and it is proven that he has a certain ability of clairvoyance that allows him to detect-"

Taeyong had already spaced out at the mention of clairvoyance. When he looked back at the boy in the room, he had his eyes on him, glinting with challenge. Kun and the others were probably too focused on the biography, leaving Taeyong alone in the brief eye contact, before the boy turned back towards the painting on the wall.

"-he's seen to be pretty aggressive these days, ever since we implanted that violence gene" Kun stated, sighing. He walked to the next room where the boy was sitting crossed legged on the floor, playing janggi with no one in particular. However, the janggi pieces seemed to move by themselves.

"Zhong Chenle, also Chinese, 16 years old" Kun said, flipping the pages. His mood seemed to go down.

"You sound fond of him" Sicheng spoke up as Kun placed a hand on the mirror. 

Kun looked at the boy who was focused on he game, hands always on his lap. "He leans more to communication. He can probably pick up many languages, but people seem to understand what he wants even before he opens his mouth. His focus is pretty low, though, but they're working on that. He's harmless."

Taeyong realized how Kun used the word 'they' instead of 'we', as if he didn't want to include himself in whatever project they would be a part of. Nevertheless, Kun kept on going to the next room. The boy was on the floor, staring at the wall with closed eyes. However, he didn't seem to be sleeping since his brows were knit in concentration. There were wires connected to his temples, disappearing into the wall.

"He's playing janggi with the other boy, isn't he?" Doyoung asked, receiving a nod from Kun. "Amazing"

Kun shrugged. "We give them one toy to play with each day to see how they use them. Once in a while we conduct small experiments like this in a more...comfortable situation. Anyway, his name is Lee Jeno, 17"

"Has the best concentration out of all of them. Lacks in terms of picking up skill, but turns out as one of the best once he masters it." Kun read out and sighed deeply. "He has a deep affection towards one of the boys named Jaemin. We'll meet him later."

"He looks like my younger brother" Doyoung suddenly said, receiving queer looks. "The way he smiles, I mean"

"He went missing when he was a baby, didn't he?" Jaehyun said softly, taking his arm. "Well, we'll be taking care of Jeno now."

Kun choked quietly before gesturing for them to continue. "The next one is probably Jaemin."

Jaemin was sitting cross legged on his bed, children blocks in front of him. He seemed to be levitating them, palm out as the blocks moved around with no restraint.

"Na Jaemin, 17" Kun looked down at his clipboard. "Has a very protective nature that brings high violence once one of his friends are hurt. Is restrained due to that violent nature-"

Taeyong looked closely at the boy and realized that his foot was cuffed to the bed. There was a red mark that showed that it was chaffing and had been for hours. Surely, the people would have noticed?

"-on watch at all times" Kun finished. "Let's just say that any experiments on the other subjects should not be done in front of him. We do full body restraint when he gets too violent, though, so don't worry"

"Don't worry" Johnny echoed, pursing his lips. 

As they walked away, Taeyongs saw the boy avert his gaze from the blocks and look directly at him, watching him follow his friends away. The smallest of smiles seemed to play on his lips, making Tayeongs skin crawl with goosebumps.

Kun  continued to the next room where another boy was holding a  20x20 rubik cube. They watched as the parts shattered and hovered in the air before reassembling into a different shape than before.

"Lee Donghyuck, 17"

"One of the hardest subject to control, currently. Shows amazing resistance and defense, but shows less offense" Kun pointed at the boy. "He's a troublemaker, but won't do anything bad if you leave him alone."

"But we'll have to do things to him, don't we?" Jaehyun asked warily. 

"He's pliant enough if we don't show him violence." Kun replied. "Extremely dangerous if you're not on his good list. But he's not the worse of them all."

Taeyong exchanged glances with Jaehyun as they walked even further than before, the lights dimming until they reaches an isolated room where a single boy was restrained and blindfolded on his bed, unable to move at all. The picture on Kun's clipboard was the only thing that enabled Taeyong to identify his face.

 

 

"Mark Lee, a baby brought from Canada, currently 18 years old" Kun tapped the mirror. "He's not usually violent, but he caused quite a scene a few months back that forced the organisation to put him on permanent watch and isolation."

The lights in Marks room flickered and Taeyong could see Mark clench his fists. Maybe he heard, maybe he could sense them. Taeyong had no idea what a brain used at almost full capacity could do, especially under threat. There was something deja vu about the whole situation, but that thought was pushed at the far part of Taeyongs brain.

"You said he caused a scene" Johnny said as they did a turn and walked back to the door. "What did he do?"

Kun stopped in his tracks, fear suddenly sparking in his dark eyes. Slowly, with a grim smile, he said in a low voice "Why do you think we're here, at such a young age? Why do you think there are so many guards here and there? That boy we saw. He killed half the people in the building"

 

* * *

 

"Something doesn't feel right"

Johnny laughed at that statement, although it didn't actually reach his eyes. "Taeyong, the whole concept is messed up. Of course it doesn't feel right"

Doyoung looked up from his phone, biting his bottom lip. "Child experimentation. We're caught up in a form of child abuse thats been going on for years and will continue with our help."

"Then we can just tell the government, right?" Sicheng asked from his spot on the top bunk. "Its...its illegal right?"

There was a creak and Jaehyun peered from the top bunk, eyebrows raised. "Well, they did tell us to keep it secret. Who knows what might happen to us if we don't follow their rules.For all we know, we might end up dead in a ditch somewhere before we can even speak. Maybe they're spying on us now"

Taeyong slumped back on his bed, closing his eyes tightly. He could see the stares Renjun and Jaemin had given him behind his closed eyelids, like a challenge or a dare. They had probably been through enough experiments, and they were daring him to do the same things to them. It was already a risk, since Mark had caused enough death in the building. Maybe his bed belonged to a deadman, lying beside him and telling him to run.

"I see the gears turning, Taeyong" Doyoung called as he pulled his blankets up to his chin. "Don't overthink. This is for the betterment of humanity, remember."

"Okay" Taeyong replied quietly. "...okay"

* * *

It was kind of obvious that things wouldn't be okay. Never ever for him.

"So...you're one of the newbies" A scientist by the name of Yuta, also around his age, greeted as Taeyong joined him at the observation platform. It was located at the side of one of the experimentation labs behind protective glass where monitors beeped along with the vitals of the subjects. "Must be your first time"

Taeyong looked into the lab which was structured alike to an arena. In the middle, one of the subjects Taeyong recognized as Jaemin stood blindfolded with his hands cuffed behind his back. Yuta leaned into the microphone.

"Jaemin, we're going to start the test now"

If Jaemin heard, he showed no sign of it. Panels opened overhead and Taeyong jumped back as blunted arrows flew towards the currently blind boy. All of them froze half a meter before they touched him, hovering in mid air before dropping to the floor. More and more came at him, and Taeyong glanced at the monitor showing Jaemin's brain, watching it turn red as it grew more and more strained.

"Jaemin, I need you to try and free yourself"

His heart rate was peaking and the arrows weren't stopping. Taeyong watched as Jaemin kept stopping the arrows while shifting the shape of the cuffs behind his back. Taeyong guessed the blindfold was making everything harder. The metal cuffs started bubbling as if heated, growing more and more loose before dropping to the ground, no longer in its natural shape. Jaemin's nose was bleeding heavily, dripping down his chin. With slow movements, he pulled the blindfold off and let it flutter to the ground.

"That was great, Jaemin. You'l be escorted to lab number 47" Yuta said and pushed his chair back, glancing at Taeyong who was busy jotting down observations. "What did you get?"

"Extreme strain in vitals, probably due to over extension." he reported with a monotone voice. "However, his brain capacity is definitely going up from the last time the test was done. No use if his vital organs can't keep up."

"Lee Sooman is probably gonna get him to do more exercises" Yuta sighed as they watched the guards escort Jaemin out, his clothes now bloody. "Or tell you guys to find a compatible gene"

"Genome editing" Taeyong murmured, rising from his seat. "Why am I supposed to go to Marks room next week?"

"Donghyuck is going to be on brainwave entrainment at that time. He needs to trust you to handle his friend, that's important. If you want to live, you'd better get on his good side."

* * *

 

"You seem new"

That was the first thing that came from Marks' mouth when he sat beside him. Considering the boy was tied to the railings of his own bed, strapped down at the chest, waist and legs and blindfolded to top it off, the whole situation was ridiculous in Taeyongs head.

"You didn't even see me" Taeyong said.

"I don't have your voice in my memory" Mark retorted before smirking. "Maybe I do, but from a long long time"

Taeyong shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I thought your memory is solid from birth"

Mark answered that with a low chuckle, making the lights flicker. "You amuse me, Lee Taeyong. Maybe I cam have an actually chit chat buddy here in this godawful place. I swear I'll burn this place to ashes ad the people in here one day"

"Didn't you already do that?" Taeyong questioned, receiving another laugh from Mark who seemed to treat him like a total joke. "I am highly offended by the way you're treating me like a child"

"Well your memory is" Mark smiled and his blindfold untied itself, revealing a pair of very dark eyes. "You seem more curious than the others though. You make me intrigued. Tell me about yourself."

Taeyong felt himself tense up with fear. Mark was clearly enjoying his discomfort. If there was something Taeyong knew, it was that he had to make sure he wasn't playing the game in Marks territory. Kind of hard when up against a very intelligent being.

"How about this. I tell you one secret about myself, and you tell me one about yourself" Taeyong offered, hands open. "Fair isn't it?"

"Fair enough" Mark agreed and his eyes shone brightly with mischief. "You start first"

Taeyong leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms. "I lost my memory when I was 8 years old, or so my parents told me. They're not my biological parents, of course, since they picked me off of the side of the road. They reckon my parents were blown up in a science lab and I was cast on the streets soon after the organisation went bankrupt. "

Mark pouted. "That's a really sad story, Hyung. Touched my heart" he smiled knowingly. "You told me three secrets though, hyung. So maybe I should tell you three also"

The lights went out and the red light on the CCTV camera went dim, hinting that it was not functioning.

"The first secret is in the control room. The second secret is in the main office. The third secret is-"

* * *

 

When Taeyong was pretty much in a state of anxiety after that, not wanting to return to his room just yet. Instead, he entered the back route of the subjects' rooms and ended up pacing back and forth, occasionally looking at them sleep. True to Yuta's word, Donghyuck was connected to wires, headphones secured over his ears. He seemed to be struggling against his straps, but there was no one there with him aside from the beeping machines.

It made Taeyong pity him.

_Knock Knock Knock_

Taeyong jumped back, eyes wandering everywhere to find the source in the echoing passageway. His eyes were drawn to Chenle who was standing right in front of the two way mirror. His eyes followed his movements, but did not meet his own eyes. Chenle could probably sense his presence, but not see him.

"Chenle?" Taeyong called, tapping on the glass. Chenle's eyes closed and he continued to knock, but in a less orderly rhythm. "Why are you knocking like that?"

Chenle opened his eyes and they seemed to be begging, pleading for him to understand. He looked at his fist and started knocking the weird rhythm again. Taeyong tilted his head in question, taking out a pen and drawing dots on his hand to represent the pattern of the knocks. 

"What are you trying to tell me?"

* * *

 

The next few weeks went on like a blur to him. Once in a while, he would stumble upon one of his friend during work, all of them trying to fake professionalism under the undisturbed facade. Doyoung had once told them about an experiment they had done one Jeno to test the violence gene.

"They trapped him in a dark room and let out crows" Doyoung had told them one stormy night. "I looked at the nightview cam and seriously, I don't think my minds gonna look at that kid the same way again. They were ripped apart like fried chicken wings"

"No wonder the old scientists and the guards have no sympathy towards them" Johnny spoke up. "I had to monitor Chenle and Jisung during a pain tolerance test. Chenle's tolerance went really high but he was literally spitting out blood once they stopped sending pain to his nerves. When I spoke to him, he just laughed as if it were all a joke"

"Maybe they're sociopaths" Sicheng spoke up quietly. "I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up being masochists either"

"Let's just hope they don't end up going on rage spree's" Jaehyun said sourly. "Get some sleep Taeyongie~"

Taeyong raised a hand. "Hang on"

He's stumbled on the term 'Morse Code' that looked rather similar to his drawing. Chenle had obviously tried to communicate with him using a code, so maybe that was it. Slowly, dragging the minutes he had left to sleep, he uncovered the hidden message.

_H Y U N G - H E L P - U S - G O - R O O M - 1 2 7_

"What on Earth?" Taeyong whispered. "What does he mean?"

_The first secret is in the control room. The second secret is in the main office._

"Oh My God"

* * *

 

"Why are we involving two of the subjects in the next test?" Taeyong asked as he walked with Kun to the lab. "They're not going against each other, right?"

Kun shook his head, nodding at a senior who past them. "We're testing their ability to think under pressure. As you know, they have very high senses which theoretically happens when they expand their senses through particles as a form of stimulation. However, we found out that they are less capable under water where the particles are closer together, meaning their senses are dulled."

"So, we put them under water?" Taeyong questioned.

Kun once again shook his head. "No. We're putting one of them under water and the other one through the real test"

"So, the subject could die?"

"Pretty much, yes"

When they the observation room, they found out that the lab was split into two. Three walls were separating them. One room was pitch black and the other had a cylindrical container filled with water to the top. When Taeyong peered at the CCTV, he realized that there was a boy on top of the cylinder, hands tied, and another boy in the dark room.

"It's a code cracking test" Doyoung said, spinning around in his chair. "We have Donghyuck in the dark room and...Renjun as the incentive. He's currently sedated but it will probably wear off once he's in the water. The cylinder has a two way mirror, so Renjun can't see what's outside."

Taeyong looked at him incredulously. "In the water?"

"Yeah" Sicheng peeked from behind a rather stocky scientist. "The test will probably start-"

The trap door under Renjun opened and he fell right into the water filled cylinder, the trap door closing right above him. 

"You didn't even give him a warning-" Taeyong started but was calmed down by a reassuring pat from Doyoung. 

"Watch"

Renjun's eyes snapped open and he took a millisecond to realize his surroundings and that he shouldn't open his mouth. He knocked on the glass using his tied hands, the water obviously slowing him down. The moment Renjun showed agitation, Donghyuck's head snapped towards his direction, not even waiting to consider the fact that he was in pure darkness.

"Enhanced night vision, I suppose" Sicheng muttered. 

The wall that separated them was thick and made of strong metal. Donghyuck placed fist on the wall and closed his eyes. It took Taeyong a moment to realize that the code was suppose to be broken from the other wall meaning Donghyuck had no idea what it looked like. He struck his fist against the wall, creating a dent,  but that wasn't his intention. He did it for a different reason entirely.

The brain scan on the monitor was becoming red.

"He's using the vibrations to identify the shape of the wall on the other side" Taeyong concluded as the movable slots on the other side started moving by themselves. 

"The question is" Doyoung said, leaning back. "can he do it in time?"

Kun looked at Renjun's monitor. "A full 5 minutes before suffocation"

Donghyuck was obviously getting drained, night vision, enhanced senses and telekinesis taking a toll on his brain. However, he shook away the fatigue and started connecting the carved path, twisting the panels and sending a wall down. However, the last wall had no code at all.

"I think we should stand back-" Kun started when Donghyuck rammed his shoulder against the wall, pushing through and stumbling into Renjun's room.

He placed a hand on the cylinder and Renjun seemed to sense his presence because he placed his hands on the inside of the cylinder. Just like that, the glass shattered and water flowed to the floor, Renjun falling into Donghyucks' outstretched arms. 

"Still in Delta" someone called and Taeyong looked at the vitals. Donghyuck has significantly improved after brain entrainment, though Tayeong ahd no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Sicheng jotted down the last of hsi notes before ushering Tayeong to leave the lab.

"They don't test Mark, do they?" Taeyong asked. "Why though?"

"Maybe they're afraid" Sicheng shrugged, tapping his pen on his clipboard. "Maybe he just wants them to leave them alone. I mean, he can do stuff with his blindfolds on"

"So can Jaemin, though" Taeyong countered.

Sicheng sighed deeply. "Probably because he's getting to Marks' level but with more emotional stability"

Honestly, Tayeong wanted to laugh at the whole 'emotional stability' concept because it was pretty obvious that the kids weren't even near achieving such things. He had even heard from someone that Jisung was so close to short circuiting the whole building when he heard that Chenle was gonna go for surgery for genome editing.

* * *

 

Why was he in front of the main office at 12 am?

Taeyong did not have the answer as he sat down on the main seat. He had tried the control room, but it had someone inside, so he had sneaked away to a different location. There were various cabinets in the main room, filed documents against the walls and paper in the drawers. 

He hated it, simply said.

"Why on earth am I listening to those kids, anyway?" Taeyong muttered as he rummaged through the papers. "What do they expect me to do?!"

_1-2-7_

Taeyong halted in his movements, eyes moving to the labelled cabinets. Surely, there could be a file-

his eyes wandered to a cabinet that wrote 127.

Almost stumbling over his own feet, he ran to the cabinet, pulling it back to reveal some very thick files. Intrigued, he pulled out three of them that had the numbers '127' in front, placing them on his lap and going through the contents.

Most of them were simple comments by scientists, towards subjects they simply called 1, 2 and 7. What happened to the other numbers, Taeyong didn't want to know. 

Number one seemed to show very advanced intelligence and observation skills, memorizing a whole sheet of numbers in a second and even able to identify which scientist is coming from the heaviness of their footsteps. It made Taeyong wonder if the kid was someone with extra-sensory abilities as well as enhanced intelligence. That could be it.

Number two was very formidable in durability, agility and strength. In fact, he became such a problem that he was chained to his bed and spoon fed in order to restrain him. However, he kept breaking through the chains and ended up in a fully padded room to decrease his impact. Taeyong guessed the scientists didn't know how to handle him much, and the fact that he showed no reaction to any pain infliction made him almost untouchable.

Number seven had acted quiet but his brainwaves went crazy once he used his ability. He seemed centered around telekinesis, lifting stuff from the floor and able to make the lights flicker on and off. There was also a document that proved he could sense objects outside of his current room. It was a hint of clairvoyance, in Taeyongs opinion.

It was all very disturbing, but Taeyong wondered why the subjects had directed him to the main office, when he realized that the kids were all centered around one specific trait. In fact, there was no talk on various genome editing, only observations based on their strengths. They were experimented on years ago, seemingly before the current ones, and probably before the destruction of half the lab.

"What do they look like" Taeyong whispered, scanning through the files. He found a photo of three kids playing at the back of the second file.

Taeyong tilted his head, reaching for the third file. It was way more thinner than the others, and it seemed to hold searching reports. There were constant interviews all around korea, and random faces of children that they had observed.

It was obvious that the three children had gone missing at one point. When Taeyong looked back at the second file, he realized that they showed agitation and aggressiveness towards the end. It could be that they had taken of by themselves, fully capable in surviving.

Whatever happened, Taeyong didn't focus on it. Instead, he went through the third file, realizing each child observed was a boy and had been claimed as prodigious compared to his peers. However there was always a big stamp of 'REJECTED' at the bottom, meaning they weren't the boys they were looking for. Whoever they were, they had been successful in escaping the eyes of the organisation.

At the second last page, there were the words "FOUND" in big letters. Taeyong stopped, suddenly feeling chills down his spine. They had been caught, yet they would have been old enough for him to realize their presence in the facility. Maybe they were kept hidden? Maybe they were killed?

Slowly, with a dreading heart, he flipped the page to the back. There was a single picture.

Under the picture, there were three numbers written in black marker. Under Doyoung was the number '1'. Under Jaehyun was the number '2' and under him was the number '7'. 

Taeyong closed his eyes as a pounding headache filled his head, making his ears ring. He could see himself running into woods, stumbling and crying until he reached a street where here were flashimg lights and a loud honk and -

"OH MY GOD!" Taeyong cried out, throwing down the files. He curled into himself, breathing heavily. 

Jaehyun had lived in America for a while, didn't he? How fast and how long did he run when they were escaping? Could it be possible that-

Doyoung balanced so many curricular activities placed on his ever since Tayeong knew him when they were 9. He had always ended up on top in the competitions and in academics. When did he ever study?

"I'm...but i don't have-" he whispered to himself. "I've never-"

The door creaked open and Tayeong raised his head. The hallway had no lights on and it seemed to be telling him to get out of there. Placing back the files, Taeyong rose to his feet and made his way outside. One by one, the side lights flickered on, leading him somewhere. Suddenly wary about his surroundings, Taeyong glanced around nervously before following the lights to the control room. There was no one in there now and Taeyong hesitantly entered.

The CCTV's were on, and so was the main computer. There was a whole wall of screens and a single computer in the middle. Taeyong sat down in the main seat and watched as the computer flickered to life and started playing a video. There was a man and a woman talking to each other.

_"I'm telling you, they're dangerous" the man stated sharply. "They'll probably die once they use their brains to 100% and you know that. There's a reason why our brains function partly."_

_"So you want to destroy our work?" the woman asked, rather calmly._

_"Yes. We shouldn't have done this in the first place!"_

_"Fine. We'll start with the lower category. They're not invincible against normal killing methods. However, the upper category will probably be harder to kill. In fact, try and get their brains to stop in one shot"_

_"So...a headshot is the only way?"_

_"I believe so"_

"Taeyong?"

Taeyong whipped around to find Doyoung and Jaehyun standing at the doorway,looking as bad as he felt. Jaehyun was holding his laptop, and Taeyong slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"When did you find out?" Jaehyun asked as they sat on the floor, door closed tightly. 

"Just now" 

Doyoung smirked, leaning back against the table. "I've always thought I was different, you know. I looked it up on my personal laptop, and hacked into some systems. It took me 3 years to find this organisation, but I did it with the help of someone here. I found out it was Yuta later on. The only file I managed to scoop out was Jaehyun's, but of course I didn't tell him when we were in Uni. Just let him be."

"I feel betrayed" Jaehyun smailed, receiving a 'ditto' from Taeyong.

"Anyway, I didn't expect them to recruit us along with Johnny and Sicheng, probably to make it seem more normal but it just made me more curious how they got all five of us involved. Then, we came here and I met Yuta and I realized this was the organisation we had run away from. Yuta told me there was one more, so I tried to find out who. Unfortunately, Jaehyun caught me sneaking out to the main office one night and we went through the files, but couldn't find ours."

"It was in 127" Taeyong muttered.

"Anyway, you don't leave your laptop until we go to sleep every night so I decided to hack it today with Jaehyun and we found weird stuff in your history"

"Made us think you were a psychopath for a moment" Jaehyun admitted. 

"And then we realized you weren't even in your bed! Long story short, we saw the control rooms lights on and here we are"

Taeyong looked back at the computer on the desk, standing up form the floor. "The kids have been hinting about it all along. They must've recognized us somehow"

"How could they recognize us, Taeyong?" Doyoung asked and followed him to the computer. "That was years ago."

Jaehyun stood beside both of them and the camera on the computer blinked. The video changed to something written on Microsoft Office. The letters were in itallic, written in a report format. It was about a Dream project that seemed to be connected to the 127 project.

"The subjects...are they project dream?" Doyoung murmured as they scrolled down the report. "If they asked us to be there for the project, they must be, right?"

No one answered, focusing on the words typed down. It was about the experiment using the genes of the first projects, mixing them together to create better beings in hopes to create a better generation. There seemed to be loads of deaths following the procedure, and very few successful ones. 

"The seven subjects, they have our genes?" Jaehyun questioned, a smirk on his face. "Wow, I'm a Father"

"Not actually, Jaehyun-" Doyoungs tarted but was quickly shushed by Taeyong.

"Guys, there's something appearing on the screen"

Indeed, new letter seemed to be typing themselves right in front of their eyes, right under the report. They came in an unorganized manner, as if hurrying.

**GET OUT OF THERE THEY KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE TONIGHT WE ARE GOING TO BE TERMINATED ALL OF US**

"Oh my God!" Taeyong yelled and all three of them ran full speed outside to come face to face with three dozen guards training their guns on them. Two of the guards were holding Sicheng and Johnny, both who seemed terrified and bewildered at the situation, at gunpoint.

"Long time no see, One, Two, Seven" the head guard greeted, smoking a cigarette. Taeyong recognized him as Haejin from his childhood. "It seems you are less formidable than last time. You didn't think we'd put a sensor on the control rooms door, did you?"

Doyoung cursed under his breath. "Let go of our friends. We'll follow you"

Haejin clicked his tongue, chuckling lowly. "Not likely. You see, we intend to terminate everyone here. Every scientist who are the new intake along with ever subject in this building. They did swear privacy, right?"

At those words, Sicheng started struggling but the barrel of the gun was pushed into his temple. Taeyong wanted to wipe the smirk off of Haejin's face as he raised one hand, a signal for them to get ready to pull the trigger. 

"Say your last goodbyes, boys"

Taeyong felt a rush of adrenaline in his veins, burning his chest and igniting a flame behind his eyes. There seemed to be something tense in his mind, like a strained rubber band. It seemed so desperate to reveal itself, to show everyone what it could do, what it was capable of.

_Release_

The guns were knocked backwards from the guards hands and there was a rush of wind before Jaehyun appeared by his side, Johnny and Sicheng in his arms, panting from the whiplash. 

"There you go, seven, much better?" Haejin laughed and raised his gun. "Now I can kill you with no guilt. FIRE!"

Taeyong felt his mind energy push outwards, creating a large barrier in front of them as the first round of bullets came. The bullets could not penetrate the barrier, but each hit seemed to be weakening his focus. Doyoungs head snapped upwards at the vent above them before a figure dropped lightly behind the guards, hair dripping with dark liquid.

"Mark" Taeyong realized and Mark brought his hands upwards, pulling the guns from the guards effectively before crushing them to dust. Another figure dropped from the vent, and moved with blurring speed, burying his fists into the stomachs of all the guards, painting the walls red. The screams lasted no longer than a second, quickly silenced.

Sicheng gagged at the scent, turning away to bury his face in Johnnys shoulder.

Mark and Donghyuck, who's skin could barely be seen from under the blood, neared them and Taeyong pushed away the danger warning in his head, keeping his feet planted on the ground. Mark looked at the control room, jerking his head sideways and easily breaking all the screens. He turned his attention back to the five friends.

"They already eliminated the first and second floor. We have to get out of here as fast as possible." Mark looked behind him and suddenly, in a blink of an eye, stood the other five subjects, arms dripping blood and faces smeared with scarlet.

"Jeno can you take Doyoung? I'll go with Taeyong. Renjun, please take Jaehyun. Jisung, Chenle, I put Sicheng and Johnny in your hands." Mark said quickly before meeting the eyes of the scientists. "There are hundreds of guards lining all floors. The elevator can't be used, so we need to take the stairs one way or another. Each stairway brings you down only one floor, then you haev to fnd a separate one on the floor.There are eight stairways, so we should split up."

"What about Kun and Yuta?" Jaehyun interrupted. "They're...our friends-"

Mark looked exasperated by the request but tapped Jaemin's shoulder. "Get them...if they're alive. Donghyuck will probably cover most of the ones who come as reinforcements behind us."

Doyoung shook his head. "No way, that's around two hundred at least. No way can he do it himself-"

"He can" Taeyong interrupted before Donghyuck could retort. "Trust me, he's fully capable."

Mark gave him a knowing glance.

**Flashback**

_"The first secret is in the control room. The second secret is in the main office. The third secret is-" Mark paused, making Taeyong squirm in discomfort._

_"Come on, don't play with my emotions" Taeyong laughed with extreme falseness._

_"The third secret is, the scientists think that I'm the monster among all seven of us. That's a lie. I covered for the real culprit, pretending I was the one who killed them" Mark smiled, raising an eyebrow. "The real monster, is my best friend Lee Donghyuck"_

**End of flashback**

"See you after I have my fun" Donghyuck said cheerily, saluting before he disappeared into a blur, running for the floor above them. 

Mark nodded and all of them split up. Knowing Taeyong couldn't keep up with his enhanced speed, Markkept right beside him, turning back just in case. When they went down the first flight of stairs, they came face to face with more guards.

_Release_

With a sweep of his hands, half of them were thrown over the railing, misfiring and Mark wasted no time to take them out, lifting them and slamming them against walls while Taeyong threw the rest out of the windows. 

"Nice work, Seven" Mark complimented and they continued down the to the second floor.

They found teh corpses of a dozen more guards, all of them torn at their bare places where they wore no armory, at their neck and hands.

Jisung wiped the blood from his lips after burying them in the neck flesh of a guards, Chenle wiping his hands on his pants in frustration. Johnny and Sicheng were frozen where they were, before two guns were thrown their way. Both of the scientists huffed at the weight.

"Just shoot, it will find a way into the flesh anyway" Chenle stated, and used telekinesis to pull the bulletproof vests off of the guards. "Wear this just in case."

"They're in good hands" Mark confirmed as they ran the other way to a different staircase. When more guards came, Taeyong jerked his head upwards, sending them flying through the roof. They met quite a lot of bodies, mangled or missing limbs. Mark knew it was Donghyucks work, since he had left a familiar state the last time.

Somewhere else, Jaehyun was getting his hands dirty as he and Renjun sped through the guards who came in fifty at a time, sending them to the walls or dragging them at high speed across the floor. Renjun seemed to have a different idea, using hsi mind to turn on the water spray and pushing the guards into a puddle that had begun to form. Jaehyun realized that Renjun was pushing teh water on the floor to their position.

"Get the wires" Renjun said in a mootone voice and Jaehyun punched through the wall, pulling out some very thick wires. 

He didn't know where the coldness in his gut came from as he threw it right in the puddle and watched the guards fall in a dance of broken dolls, singed and smoking. Renjun gave him a look, daring him to speak a word about it. He didn't, so they kept on running.

"I though water made you guys weaker" Jaehyun said as they went down another floor.

Renjun shrugged. "Why would we be weaker in water? Their theory is full of *** anyway and we were faking being weak. All of us are fully capable though, thanks to you guys. I was waiting so long for this day to come"

Jaehyun didn't know why he was okay with Renjun's mindset. Perhaps he had also been in the same one years ago, during their first escape.

At a different wing, Doyoung and Jeno were using the vents to crawl their way to the next staircase, aware of the commotion that was happening under them. 

"I can feel at least twenty" Doyoung mouthed once they arrived at the vent nearest to the door. Jeno nodded, closing his eyes. The lights went off and the guards were panicking, ready to activate their night vision helmets. Jeno and Doyoung dropped from the vent and Doyoung instantly knocked down one guard using his weight, taking the gun and firing bullets, knowing it would always find a head to bury itself into. 

Jeno had pulled a pipe out of the wall and started smashing in the heads of the guards around him, sending them flying in the darkness. When the lights flickered on, there were blood stains on the walls and Doyoung wiped off a spray of blood on his cheek.

"Not bad kiddo. kind of rusty" he commented, receiving an eye-smile form Jeno.

At the ground floor, Kun and Yuta were on their knees, watching as the guards fired the younger scientists one by one. Their phones were confiscated on the floor a few feet in front of them. Kun exchanged a terrified glance with Yuta as the guard came nearer, completely ignoring the pleas of a female scientist, shooting her in the head. 

"Kun, what do we do?" Yuta whispered but the chinese man was at a loss for words. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a flashing screen. The mound of phones seemed to light up. Yuta and Kun had their eyes fixed on them as words began to appear on every screen.

**Don't move**

The lights went out and there were raised voices of shock and Yuta heard the sound of clicking guns aiming everywhere. Then, there was screaming and more screaming, layered upon each other in a mix of nightmarish noises. He and Kun held each other tightly, keeping their eyes shut and not shifting from their places on the floor. There was wetness that landed on their clothes, their hair, their skin but they did not make a sound, did not move.

The lightS flickered on and Jaemin was crouched in front of them, Donghyuck nearby kicking at the corpses, both dripping with blood but with a bright smiles on their faces

"The cavalry had come!" Jaemin said and took their wrists, pulling them to their feet. "I need you to run with me outside"

"But there are more outside" Yuta stated, hands shaking. 'They'll open fire once-"

"HYUCKIE~!" Jaemin called and pointed outside. Donghyuck glanced the darkened windows and sighed, moving in a blur out of the door. There was screams of bloody murder and blood splattered against the windows, bodies thrown against the panels and making them crack. The chaos continued for a few second before dying down. Donghyuck peeked his head form the door, hair dripping blood to the floor.

"The coast is clear"

* * *

 

Taeyong tapped hia foot impatiently as they waited for Donghyuck to come out of the building. He had gone back in to fetch some of the documents in the main office.

"Helicopters and reinforcements will come soon" Doyoung bit his lip. 

Mark also seemed worried. "Maybe I shoulde go-"

"Don't!" Renjun interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We have to trust him"

The top floor started cracking and collapsed on top of the next, bringing down the whole facility. Mark had to be restrained by his friends as they watched the floors crumble and break apart. 

"He's still in there!" Mark yelled and Jaehyun looked away, hating the sight of the distraught boy.

"He'll make it out!" Jeno yelled over the sounds of screaming inside the building. "Please!"

As if on cue, Donghyuck rushed out of the main doors, clutching a bag and a telekinetic shield above him as rubble came falling down. Once he was near enough, all of them took off running into the woods.

Taeyong had a small vision of him running through the woods at eight years old, stumbling over roots and panting, yet telling himself to keep on going, to keep on running. He did the sam ething at that time, not slowing down even though he knew most of them could probably sprint faster than any normal human could. 

"Don't stop!" came Johnny's voice and they kept on going. Jaehyun's firm hand held his wrist, pulling him forward when his knees started to feel weak. At one point, he found himself on Jaehyun's back, his surroundings a blur. They kept on moving until they were far away from the place. 

"I hear water!" Doyoung and Chenle yelled at the same time.

They stopped abruptly, inersia not even working on them as their footsteps left a cloud of dirt. They were at a small stream, clear water flowing. They were all drenched in blood, totally unhygienic. Taeyong was later entertained by shirtless boys splashing each other and floating water blobs thrown here and there. The water went from clear to rather reddish to clear once more.

"That was a long ride" Mark smiled once Doyoung and Jisung created a fire large enough to bring comfort to them. Taeyong had created a telekinetic barrier above them to stop the smoke from rising to the sky, letting the shield absorb the smoke.

"I never thought this would happen" Kun laughed, raking a hand through his head. "I thought I'd have to die a sinner"

The seven subjects rolled their eyes, sipping on plain water.

"The question is, what do we do after this?" Renjun opened the topic, eyes reflecting the firelight. "We...can we go back?"

"The rest of us probably can" Johnny spoke up. "For the rest of you-"

Doyoung shook his head. "The government won't accept genetically altered humans. They'll have us eliminated"

"You don't know that!" Yuta exclaimed. 'Maybe...they'll accept you"

"Or do experiments" Jaemin butted in, frowning. "All over again"

"We'll be runaways for now" Jaehyun decided. "If we can get a van, that would help us a lot"

Sicheng shook his head. 'If you're going, I'm going too!"

"Me too" came other choruses and Taeyong groaned. At the same time, Donghyuck and Doyoung were searching the files Donghyuck had managed to take. They went through them one by one, separating the evidence they could give the government and other files.

"I think I've found our target" Donghuck spoke up, throwing the papers on the floor, revealing biographies and articles printed on them. "We 're not the only ones. We have more of experiments like us living out there, knowing they are hunted or currently in facilities all over the world"

"Which means there are more branches to this organisations." Kun frowned and picked one paper up. "So...you want to find all of them?"

"Not find the ones who are secure, of course!" Donghyuck replied brightly. "Break out the ones who are still in the facilities"

He nudged a paper with his toe, raising his eyebrows. "Along with number 3, 4, 5, and 6"

"There are others?!" Taeyong's eyes were wide as he took the papers. "I thought they were-"

"Terminated" Mark finished grimly. "It's possible their brains rejected the experiments, but they could have entered a state of comatose with their brains still functioning. Maybe a different facility out there focuses on healing such brains and trying again using different methods."

On the papers were their pictures in their order.

 

 

       

"It's a plan" Taeyong decided, smiling. "Who's gonna be the leader?"

All of them turned to him, and Taeyong's smile faded. "Oh no"

"It's just meant to be, hyung" Jeno comforted, twirling a stick between his fingers. 'You're perfect for the job"

"All agree?" Johnny called and there was a chorus of "YESSSS!"

Taeyong cleared his throat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with all the attention. "Well, first of all, we should go to the facility that holds the other numbers. That's important. We can probably locate them easily."

"Doyoung can do clairvoyance, right?" Chenle asked and Doyoung shrugged. "He can probably find them by drowsing. Renjun uses it all the time with us, but he can't do it with people he isn't close to"

"Then it goes down to practice" Jisung put in, shrinking when everyone turned their gaze to him.

Taeyong cleared his throat again, averting tehri attention to him. 'Anyway if hat works out, I think we should move to China after that, where they're keeping the least amount of subjects in the facility. Only three of them there, so it might b easier."

He turned the paper to show their pictures to the others.

Kun whistled in appreciation. "I guess we can do that. Good plan, Taeyong"

Taeyong scratched teh back of his neck. "Yeah, we'l focus on these for now. Anyone have any questions?"

Sicheng raised his hand. 'What are we gonna call yourselves?"

Taeyong seemed to have an error in processing his words. "What?"

"Like a brand name. We have to let them know who we are, and not just place the word 'terrorists' or 'mafia' on our name. We need a symbol" Doyoung looked around as everyone started to think.

"Neo-" Mark muttered. "Neo-youth?"

Donghyuck snorted with laughter. 'It means the same thing, Markie"

"Something to represent a new...modernized youth" Doyoung said rather loudly. "A new generation"

Taeyong was deep n thought before a name rolled form his tongue. "Neo culture technology"

They all looked at him simultaneously, heads tilted in question.

"What hyung?" Mark asked.

"Neo Culture Technology" he said again and it just felt right. It gave him a feeling of comfort, that he wasn't a mistake or a corrupted project, but more of someone with the responsibility of taking care of the future. " NCT, that's our name"

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Be sure to leave comments and kudo's!!! You may contact me on twitter (@Skydancer_0) for any questions!


End file.
